# WITS 100 HOMECOMING PROGRAMME
CONCERT BuyyourR100ticketnow@webtickets.co.za.AllproceedstoWitsFoodBankforstudents.Witshostedtheoriginal‘Free’People’sConcert51yearsago.It’sbackagainin2022! WitsDIGSField,WestCampus.12:00-02:00Wheelchair and disability accessible. No camp chairs allowed, but picnic blankets welcome. No cooler boxes. Alcohol will not be served to those under 18 years. ID checks at the gate and at liquor selling outlets. WITS100‘FREE’PEOPLE’S Arts and CraftsMarket, children'splay area, beergarden, gin bars,food courts. 3SEPT2022MangoGroove,SamthingSoweto,theWitsMassChoir,BigZulu,Khuzani,HollyRey,LwahNdlunkulu,MduduziNcube.SpecialtributebyJesseClegg, SiphoMchunuandtheJohnnyCleggband toWitsalumnusandoneofSouthAfrica’sgreatestmusicians,thelateJohnnyClegg. @webtickets.co.za
allowed,welcome. children'sCraftsbeerbars, @webtickets.co.za Welcome home Witsies! We hope you enjoy this special centenary Homecoming Weekend from Friday 2 September to Sunday 4 September 2022 in the heart of the vibrant Braamfontein campuses. This is a once-in-a lifetime celebration with a host of events that the whole family can enjoy. You can expect to reconnect with old friends over exhibitions, musical and theatre productions, campus tours, a spectacular light show, Free People’s Concert, an arts and craft market as well as a host of other attractions. Enjoy being a Witsie and take pride in the incredible impact that Wits has had on society and on countless lives around the world over the past 100 years! Contents Schedule of Events 4 Exhibitions 8 Theatre Productions 10 Dining on Campus 13 Connect with Wits and Witsies 14
2 SEPTEMBER | 18H00 – 19H00
Join us for an evening of cocktails to kick off the special Alumni Homecoming Weekend. Collect your Centenary goodie bags and enjoy performances by the Wits Choir. There will be historical displays of Wits artefacts and memorabilia; and a visual display of light-based research in the foyer of the Physics Building.
#WITS100 Light Show
2 SEPTEMBER | 19H00 – 21H00
The Piazza, Wits Great Hall
Gather from 11h30 Floats and crowds reminiscent of RAG, a Wits fundraising tradition that started in 1922, join the procession at 13h00 from the Origins Centre, Yale Road South. The parade will proceed through Braamfontein and culminate on the Library Lawns.
Entertainment and Picnic
Alumni Welcome Event
Concourse, Solomon Mahlangu House (formerly Senate House) (By invitation only)
Schedule of Events Centenary Parade
Bring your friends, family, colleagues and a picnic blanket. Enjoy food and drinks from pop-up stalls while basking in the live entertainment. All museums and galleries will be open with free entry.
2 SEPTEMBER | 13H00 ONWARDS Library Lawns, East Campus
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2 SEPTEMBER | 13H00
An experience not to be missed. The interactive #Wits100 Light Show tells Wits’ history through images and light projected on the façade of the Wits Great Hall in a multimedia presentation titled Visible Resonance by Marcus Neustetter and the Trinity Session. This unique show will be accompanied by drummers, the Wits Choir, and participants from the audience.
Get the Wits Alumni Homecoming app for campus and event information. Create a group and connect with fellow Witsies and classmates! RAFTR Code: Witsies1922* Once you’re in the app, set up a profile, explore, create and join alumni groups (rafts). To install the app, scan the QR code (right) or go to www.raftr.com/code to to use the web version of the app.
3 SEPTEMBER | 09H30 – 11H00
3 SEPTEMBER | 16H00 – 17H00
The course starts near the Wits Club. You run around the Science Stadium and then back downhill where you take a left turn past the Barnato Residence. The route takes you up a steep hill where you turn right into the Sturrock Park Campus. After looping around the Wits football training grounds you return to West Campus, running down the Hypotenuse Hill, and turning right to run behind the Convocation Dining Hall.
3 SEPTEMBER | 08H00 – 10H00 Assemble at The Wits Club, West Campus
The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Zeblon Vilakazi, and Alumni Relations will host a ceremony to unveil the Fulbright/Mandela Rhodes/Rhodes Scholarship boards now housed in the foyer of the Great Hall. This is an opportunity to honour and celebrate all recipients of these prestigious scholarships over cocktails.
Once you have passed the pond, repeat the loop around the Science Stadium, ending with a downhill run to the finish at the Wits Club.
Wits Science Stadium Lawns, West Campus Join us for a mindful and rejuvenating yoga practice with Prof Nirupa Padia. The first 150 attendees will receive a free yoga mat.
Scholarship Board Unveiling
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Yoga on the Lawns
Great Hall Foyer (By invitation only)
3 SEPTEMBER | ALL DAY Hall 29, West Campus Browse through an assortment of artifacts, gifting options, vintage and upmarket goods at the special Homecoming market. Or find something delicious to eat among the deli type foods from a range of vendors.
Parkrun
Arts and Crafts Market
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4 SEPTEMBER | 10H00 – 12H00 Gavin Relly Green, West Campus (By invitation only)
4 SEPTEMBER 2022 | 17H00 – 20H00 Wits Club, Braamfontein West Campus (By invitation only)
Free People’s Concert
SRC Formal Gala Dinner
A celebration of the illustrious Wits SRC. It will be a look back at how this prestigious structure shaped our country’s socio-political trajectory and the opportunities that lie ahead. All former SRC members are invited to join the evening of reflection and celebration.
Founders’ Tea
3 SEPTEMBER | 12H00 – 02H00 DIG Field, West Campus
This special Wits tradition celebrates alumni who graduated more than 40 years ago. As one of the highlights of the year, Wits Alumni Relations is honoured to have the former deputy chief justice Justice Dikgang Moseneke as a guest speaker with the vote of thanks by Wits Chancellor, Dr Judy Dlamini. This year we welcome the Classes of 1980, 1981 and 1982 to their first Founders’ Tea.
It’s been 51 years since the first Free People’s Concert was held at Wits in 1971. In the true spirit of the Free People’s Concert, this is a family day and will have performances that cater to all audiences. There will be a children’s play area, beer garden, gin-and-champagne bars and a food court. Wits alumnus Jesse Clegg, Sipho Mchunu and the Johnny Clegg band will pay tribute to the late Johnny Clegg. Other artists on the line-up include: Mango Groove, Samthing Soweto, Holly Rey, Big Zulu, Khuzani, MFR Souls, Wits Mass Choir, Mduduzi Ncube, Lwah Ndlunkulu, and more.
As part of WAM’s year-long focus on women for WAM’s 10th year and Wits University’s centenary celebrations. This exhibition is a visual homage to this important photographer and dedicated social documentarian’s extensive work. Curated by Beathur Mgoza Baker, the exhibition comprises more than 35 years of images covering humanitarian crises and the lives of ordinary and iconic South Africans.
DONNA KUKAMA: WAYS-OF –
REMEMBERING-EXISTING
This is a solo exhibition by interdisciplinary artist Donna Kukama and forms part of WAM’s 10th year and Wits University’s centenary celebrations. The title is rooted in Kukama's ongoing PhD creative research which critiques existing narratives of history and traditional modes of storytelling. The artist will lead a walkabout at WAM at 12:00 on Saturday 3 September.
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This free interactive science exhibition has a strong emphasis on biology. Learn more about the natural world and sustainable living. The theme this year is Coming of Age. All living things go through various life stages. Often great changes take place before reaching the adult stage. It is an important phase for the continuation of the species, and for many organisms, is a large proportion of their lifespan. The concept of ‘Coming of Age’ can also apply to organisations and the state of knowledge.
2 – 4 SEPTEMBER | 10H00 – 16H00 Corner of Bertha (extension of Jan Smuts Ave) and Jorissen streets, Braamfontein
Yebo Gogga – Coming of Age 6 SEPTEMBER | 08H30 – 15H00 WEEKDAYS / 08H30 – 16H00 WEEKEND
2 –
Exhibitions
Oppenheimer Life Sciences Building, East Campus
HER EYE ON THE STORM: A TRIBUTE TO PHOTO-ACTIVIST GISÈLE WULFSOHN
Wits Art Museum
WJK: IN BLACK AND WHITE. AND READ ALL OVER This focuses on William Kentridge’s books and the wonderful art of the Kentridge monograph. The exhibition is about word and image, and all of these books embody the rich visual and textual record of this artist’s diverse creative outputs. On display are the Kentridge publications in the Jack Ginsberg Centre for Book Arts holdings which span over 35 years. Origins Centre 2 – 4 SEPTEMBER | 09H00 – 17H00 West Campus Braamfontein The Origins Centre will be open at no charge over the Homecoming Weekend. A few tour guides will be on site to guide visitors, and exhibitions include:
ORIGINS OF EARLY SAPIEN’S BEHAVIOUR
This exhibition presents the culmination of 30 years of archaeological research in the southern Cape, undertaken by Professor Christopher Henshilwood, Dr Karen van Niekerk, Professor Sarah Wurz and their research teams at Blombos Cave, Klipdrift Shelter and Klasies River. It showcases the unique archaeological discoveries that have been made at the three sites, which were occupied by early Homo sapiens between 120 000 and 50 000 years ago, a key period in the evolution of modern human behaviour.
Curated by Petro Keene (Evolutionary Studies Institute, Wits), the displays feature artefacts, artworks, an interactive area, films by award-winning filmmaker, Craig Foster, and a visualisation of the extraordinary lives and innovations of our early modern human ancestors.
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The Chris Seabrooke Music Hall, Wits East Campus
Theatre Productions School of Arts DRAMA FOR LIFE CENTENARY CONFERENCE SERIES LAUNCH 2 SEPTEMBER | 09H00 – 12H00 Amphitheatre
GIDEON NXUMALO’S “60TH CELEBRATION OF JAZZ FANTASIA” PRESENTED BY MDU MTSHALI 4 SEPTEMBER 14H00 – 14H40
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The album was recorded live at the Wits Great Hall in September 1962, Nxumalo was the first black jazz musician to host such an event at Wits during the apartheid era. The performance will be a 40-45 minute set featuring piano, bass, drums, sax, vocals and two special guests on horns. The set is arranged by Wits music alumnus Mdu Mtshali.
This conference seeks to affirm the values of Wits' innovation strategy and reaffirm Drama for Life's own vision and mission toward arts for social transformation and healing. Drama for Life's conference series seeks to explore and interrogate its legacies of innovation, draw substantive lessons from its first decade, and speak to new pathways of innovation emerging in Higher Education and the disciplines of Applied Arts, Arts Therapies and Arts Research.
MORWA – THE RISING SUN 2 SEPTEMBER | 14H00, 3 SEPTEMBER | 14H00 / 19H00 Downstairs Theatre This is an award-winning theatre-for-youth work that captures an everyman’s journey with masculinity, personhood and struggle for love in an age of unbridled greed and disconnection. PLAYBACK THEATRE –MY MEMORABLE MOMENTS 3 SEPTEMBER | 11H00 – 12H15, 4 SEPTEMBER | 12H00 – 13H15 The Nunnery Playback is designed to invite the audience to share memorable moments, anecdotes, and stories of the impact Wits has had on their lives. The actors and musicians will then pair the just-told narratives with an improvised embodied performance. The company primarily consists of Wits alumni. Drama for Life Playback Theatre is the ONLY formally accredited playback theatre company in Africa. LERUMO BADIMONG SPEAR IN THE LAND OF THE GODS - A MUSICAL 3 SEPTEMBER | 14H00 – 15H30 / 19H00 – 20H30, 4 SEPTEMBER | 14H00 – 15H30 Wits Main Theatre ‘Nothing of yours can be truly stolen. Everything that is yours, no matter how far, will come full circle... Ngeke balibuse’ TAP FINAL HOMECOMING CELEBRATION 4 SEPTEMBER | 17H00 – 18H00 Wits Main Theatre Performance programme featuring alumni in song, dance and spoken word. PAGE 11
WHEN THINGS FALL TOGETHER 3-4 SEPTEMBER | 16H00 Begins at the East side of Tunnel to West Campus This is a site-specific performance ritual that has been adapted to be staged on the West Campus. The work is created for the outdoors. The performers are members of the Drama for Life Theatre Company, music therapists, musicians, dancers and a writer. WITSIES MEET AGAIN 3 SEPTEMBER | 10H00 – 11H00, 16H00 – 17H00 Wits Main Theatre Panel discussions titled ‘From where we were to where we are in the cultural community’ will focus on writing, directing, performance and musical theatre with alumni. PAGE 12
Wits Club and Barns Complex, Cape Dutch Cottage complex on West Campus. The complex includes the Wits Club restaurant with an alumni lounge-pub, a conference centre, and Alumni House, which houses the Office of Alumni Relations. Join a fellow Witsie for a meal in the stylish elegant restaurant or under the majestic oak trees.
• Zesti Lemonz • Jimmy’s (Halaal) • Tower of Light • Pop-Up Food Stalls at Hall 29 and DIG Fields (Saturday only) • Beer Garden at DIG Fields (Saturday only) East Campus Food art @ Origins centre. In the Matrix Student Complex: • Jimmy’s (Halaal) • Kara Nichhas (vegetarian) • Chinese Lantern • Delhi Delicious (Halaal) • Sausage Saloon • Just Taste • Student Corner • The Sweet Park AMIC DECK Vida E Wits Art Museum Vida E PAGE 13
Dining and Refreshments on Campus West Campus
Connect with Wits and Witsies /wits__university//WitsWebmaster/wits__university//witsuniversity CAMPUS WEBCAM Live view of the Great Hall: https://bit.ly/WitsLive1 Live view of the Library Lawns: https://bit.ly/WitsLive2 PAGE 14
Your support is key to nationalremainingWitsatreasure For more information visit DONATEHERESCANWits.https://wits100.wits.ac.za/ForGoodTO Celebrating 100 years of a great institution
